With Six Organs of Admittance, Ben Chasny has orchestrated both guitar-themed and noise-based releases, and on the latest masterpiece he has split the album in half with six bright, guitar heavy songs on one side and a single, deep, dark, and sprawling drone-based song on the other.
The first side is contained between two brief instrumental pieces. The bluesy fingerpicked guitar of "Torn By Wolves" at the beginning and "Wolves' Pup" at the end are each based on the same melodic theme, with the intro version prominently exhibiting drums and percussion by fellow Comets on Fire cohort Noel von Harmonson. In complete contrast to Chris Corsano's drums on last year's School of the Flower, Noel's drums sound more comfortable and collaborative, as if there's an actual band named Six Organs of Admittance this time around, and it's not simply a vessel for Ben Chasny. This isn't an isolated incident, as Noel goes on to appear on nearly all the other songs on The Sun Awakens, often joined by John Connell on Persian wind instruments the daf and ney, and Tim Green on tone generators. Lyrical vocals are spare but when they appear, they're not the crisp and clear, springy vocals we're used to hearing from Chasny, but lower and more treated on the mellow "Bless Your Blood," and higher and more sinister on "Black Wall." The ensemble are a powerful force on these four inner songs, providing both a pulse and drone to Chasny's acoustic virtuosity and distorted electric mayhem. The sound is rounded out with organ (unlisted I think) on "Desert Circle" and a punchy rhythm on the climax of "Attar."
Side two is filled with the nearly 24-minute "River of Transfiguration," described as being inspired by Hermann Nitsch, but I find it much more rewarding and less abstract. The complete ensemble is collected here, joined by a few extra vocalists, and over the course of the song patiently build a both poweful and sad aural monument. Perhaps it's the visual cues like the images on the front, back, and inside or the Persian wind instruments but its sound and feel reminds me of the Iranian scenes in the Exorcist where evil was unearthed from the desert. The guitars are heavy with effects, the drones are low and rumbling, the vocal melody is sad and steady, while the drums stagger like the gunfire of a battle. When the drums end it's as if the battle is over and the landscape is filled with nothing but dead bodies and wind: the vocals hum and the wind instruments play faint as they slowly fade to silence.
I don't find myself singing along with as many songs as I have in the past from Six Organs. When The Sun Awakens is finished, the effect is nearly the opposite: I'm left almost completely speechless and need to remain in silent reflection for a bit. This is a truly brilliant record.
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